Good Morning
Happy Halloween! May the candy that’s left over be your favorite.
Have you ever gotten a customer request that was so strange that you could not believe it, or something that you absolutely don’t do? How did you respond? Did you say “What the…! You want what?!” or “No way. We don’t do that!” Maybe the nice “I’m sorry we don’t offer that product or service?”
Let me confess, there are many times over the years that I wanted to say that, but I didn’t. In most cases I would tell them I was not sure it’s possible, but let me think about it or look into it or something to that effect.
In the past week or so I did have a printer whose customer wanted white lettering on a maroon envelope. I told them I could not do it (I don’t have white ink and not sure where I could get it) and I was not sure that the post office’s machines could read the address and that they would need to check with the post office first before anything else. The printer called back the other day and told me that the post office said yes it could be mailed. I explained that over the weekend I saw an old invitation we had at home that was done just as she, the printer, described, but that one was done by hand with white ink. Also, I don’t have white ink and not sure where to get it. But I did offer some help. A friend had just leased a new digital press, and they told me that they can do all sizes of envelopes and it should be able to do white. I gave them my friend’s phone number.
I’ve learned over the years to tell people to let me think about it instead of just telling them “no” outright unless I really can’t do it. This gives time to find a solution to their problem, and people like the idea that someone is helping them even if I have to tell them I can’t help them.If I can’t, I try to direct them to someone who might.
Now you know how I handle out-of-the-ordinary requests, how do you handle them?
Till next week,
Great Things Happen, But You Have To Take Action NOW!
Philip Freedman
Your Doctor of Customer Acquisition, Retention and Enhancement
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